Gov. Jerry Brown, speaking at the Association of California Water Agencies conference in Sacramento, said he planned to build twin tunnels in the Delta in his final term in office.
Rich Pedroncelli
The Associated Press

Gov. Jerry Brown, speaking at the Association of California Water Agencies conference in Sacramento, said he planned to build twin tunnels in the Delta in his final term in office.
Rich Pedroncelli
The Associated Press

The Conversation

As Gov. Jerry Brown made clear recently while speaking to the Association of California Water Agencies, he intends to build two 40-foot diameter, 30-mile long tunnels through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Last Sunday’s Conversation asked readers: Why should the plan to build twin tunnels to transfer water from the Sacramento River to south of the Delta be put to a popular vote?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Put it to a vote

Any state project that would cost over $1 billion should be put up to public vote.

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Jim Brobeck – Reservoirs in the Sacramento Valley watershed have created unrealistic expectations of transferable, reliable water. … Demand from the San Joaquin Valley for Sacramento Valley water is putting the entire state on an Owens Valley destiny. The tunnels will facilitate a more rapid dewatering of the Sacramento Valley.

Carmichael Craig – The tunnels only change where the water is drawn from. They restore the natural flow of the Delta and save millions of fish that die each year.

Jim Brobeck – While the tunnels might reduce the reverse flows in the south Delta during extreme pumping operations, they certainly would not restore the natural flow. The San Joaquin River has been so severely depleted that a natural flow is impossible. Taking Sacramento River water upstream from the Delta is an attempt to circumvent environmental constraints to meet the unreasonable demands of politically elite investor-owned agriculture in the western San Joaquin Valley.

Jacqui Naud – I do not support building tunnels to transport water from the Delta to Southern California. But I’m not sure putting this issue on a ballot when the majority of voters live in Southern California would be the wisest thing to do.

Linda Schoeffler – Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to ruin the environment/Delta by trying to save it. No tunnels.

Tony Myers – Does it help the water situation? Are we in a drought? Seems like an easy answer to me.

Equinsu Ocha – Absolutely we should vote on this. If this is truly good for California, then the governor has nothing to worry about. Telling us to “shut up” because he knows more than we do only raises a red flag.

Fred Rinne – The tunnels project is nothing more than corporate welfare for the biggest water users – the privatization of public resources.